July 27, 2016 - Public education at the Calgary Fire Department has gone to the dogs – and it's helping draw attention to fire-safety messages.

Paul Aziz, a community safety officer with the Calgary Fire Department, shared with us a fire-safety video that stars Flint, a retired search and rescue dog. The video has already been viewed almost 1,500 times on YouTube.

". . . we are finding it is getting the message across to kids as well as adults," Aziz said in an email, adding that he is more than happy to share the video with fire services across Canada.

July 25, 2016, Ottawa - Older and less robust railway tanker cars will not be able to transport crude oil in Canada as of Nov. 1, six months earlier than planned, Transport Minister Marc Garneau confirmed Monday.

The DOT-111 cars are the same kind that were involved in the Lac-Megantic tragedy in which 47 people died three years ago.

The new directives are for crude oil only, Garneau said, and all other flammable liquid will continue to be transported by rail in the country by DOT-111s until 2025.

Garneau said while he was able to accelerate the phase-out of DOT-111s for crude, the government needs to be ''realistic'' about other materials.

''The reality is that in this country we transport a huge amount by rail – hundreds of billions of dollars worth a year – and you can't do everything in one shot,'' he told a news conference.

''Here we have the opportunity to do something very concrete on the crude oil side – which is extremely important – and I am very proud of it.''

DOT-111s without a thermal layer of protection will be banned from transporting crude on Nov. 1, six months earlier than planned. For tankers with the thermal layer, the ban kicks in on the same date, 16 months earlier than scheduled.

By April 30, 2025, DOT-111s will not be able to transport any flammable liquids by rail in Canada.

Garneau said tankers carrying crude originating from the United States that are not up to code will not be able to cross the border and violators will face penalties.

He wasn't able to give details on the amount of the fines.

Garneau said there are about 30,000 DOT-111s without a thermal layer transporting crude oil on railways in North America. He didn't have a precise number for the cars with the protective layer.

July 22, 2016, Whitbourne, N.L. - Firefighters were monitoring hotspots at a fish plant that burned to the ground late Thursday, dealing a major blow to the hundreds of people who work there.

Deputy fire Chief Corey Hudson said the plant in Norman's Cove-Long-Cove burned quickly after the fire was noticed at about 9 p.m., due possibly to a transformer catching fire and spreading to the main building.

''It's a total loss,'' he said Friday from the small community on Trinity Bay in eastern Newfoundland. ''It was fully enraged. There was no chance of saving the building.''

People in the area reported hearing an explosion before the fire started, but Hudson said the cause was still under investigation.

Mayor Barry Drake said he got a call at about 9:30 p.m. telling him that the community's main employer was ablaze. He said when he looked out, he ''saw a lot of fire.''

He said there were three buildings that made up the Dorset Fisheries plant, which was in the middle of one of its busiest periods with the processing of capelin. It also processed mackerel and herring.

Drake said about 200 people worked there at its peak times, employing many of the 800 residents of Norman's Cove-Long Cove.

''There's a lot of people depending on that plant for their hours,'' he said. ''There's a lot of sad people here and a lot of devastation, but the main thing is that nobody was hurt.''

Residents say smoke and flames could be seen from the surrounding area near the plant. Hudson said when fire fighters arrived on scene, they immediately called in help from neighbouring departments.

Dorset Fisheries plant manager Terry Reid told CBC that a transformer near the plant caught fire and within minutes the plant was burning.

Provincial government officials said Friday that they would visit the town to meet with municipal representatives and discuss ways to support the community.